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The Doya of Bhutan

The Doya of Bhutan, numbering approximately 2,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Indigenous people of the rugged foothills of southwestern Bhutan who prefer the name Lhopu; their society is traditionally matrilineal and matrilocal, with descent and household organization centered on the maternal line. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Lhokpu is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Doya

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: Bhutan
People Cluster: Tibetan
Primary Language(s): Lhokpu (lhp)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 2,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042389
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Pray for the Doya of Bhutan

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lhokpu
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

75%
%
Lhokpu Speakers

Media Resources in Lhokpu:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Lhokpu:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lhokpu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Doya:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Doya of Bhutan

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
readPsalm 22:26

Pray that the lost will feel a deep hunger for God, be drawn to Him in their affliction, and find lasting satisfaction and salvation in Him alone.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
readPsalm 34:8

Pray that the gospel will advance and that many will have the opportunity to taste and see the goodness of God and entrust their lives to Him.

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
readHebrews 10:35

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hold unswervingly to their faith and to their confidence in Christ, which has a great reward.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
readEphesians 6:10

Ask God to strengthen believers with His mighty power so that as they cross cultures to share the gospel, they will stand firm against the schemes of the enemy.

Lhop, Doya Across Countries (ROP3 - 113916) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
DoyaPG042389DoyaBhutan2,500Unengaged and UnreachedLhokpuEthnoreligion

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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